there it is! cried the prince. atop his magnificent stallion, he pointed his sword to the castle up a head. go magnus! take me to my princess! the neighed and started to gallop towards the dark castle.

bruised and scratched, the prince couldn't help but smile. after their horrendous journey, they reached his destiny at last! finally! he thought to himself, i will grace the glorious face of my beloved. after years of waiting, he had finally come to her. his sleeping princess. the sleeping beauty.

for years his nights has been plagued by dreams of her beauty. her tale has crossed throughout the world. countless princes have tried and failed. except him. he braved a forest of thorns and slain the evil witch to get to where he is now, the entrance to his future.

they entered the deserted palace. dark and gloomy, the air smells of rot. he dismounted his steed at the foot of a spiraling staircase that leads to the tower. holding the hilt of his sword, alert for other black magic left by the witch, he slowly climbed the stairs to his princess. higher and higher he climbed. only when he reached the door to the room did he release the breath we has holding.

everything felt surreal to him. he saw himself reach for the knob, turned it, and opened the door. the room was shrouded in darkness. only a sliver of light can be seen, seeping through a tear in the molding curtains. in the middle of the room, was a four poster bed, home of his princess for a hundred years. she was indeed beautiful beyond compare.

he walked closer to her and marveled at his greatness. a hundred years, thousands of princes and it had to be me. hah! i am truly destined for greatness. and now i know that i am also destined for this beauty, he said as he sat on the bed beside the sleeping beauty. her lips, red, are parted. as if awaiting him and him alone. and he bend over to kiss her.

she felt his presence even before he came near. finally! she thought, someone brave enough made it this far. she felt him sit beside her. and she swear she could hear something. what is he saying? please kiss me now. end this spell! she screamed in her head.

and then she felt it.

hot lips met her cold one. the heat traveled from her lips to her head, slowly, enveloping her in warmth. yes! yes! she yelled! her lips twitched in an excited smile. her fingers moved slowly. after a hundred years of bed rest, she is finding it difficult to move. slowly, she reached her right hand to the place where she thought he might be. but he was not there. alarmed, she forced herself to open her eyes. they fluttered and closed, trying to adjust to the dimness of the room. and then her blue eyes met with brown eyes.

then she screamed.

looking down at her was a huge frog. she sat up in bed, still screaming and hit the frog. the poor thing hit the wall. it rolled once, twice. and with a final croak, it jump forlornly, slightly limping to the window while the beauty just stared. it found the tear in the curtains and jumped through it to his death.

sobbing, the princess cried out for the prince. but he was nowhere to be seen. she got up from the bed, found the power to walk again and went down the stairs. the prince was not there. she found his horse though. she walked around the palace, crying at the memories. it is still the way as i remembered it, she cried.

she walked towards the horse. it backed away from her, scared. she tried to calm him down, took the reins and pulled the horse towards the castle door.
outside, she was temporarily blinded by the sunlight. once accustomed to the brightness she cried again. the garden glimmered in rainbow colors under the bright sun. little did she know that everything was restored once the spell once lifted.

she walked to the side of the castle, pulling the horse behind her as she called to the prince, or anyone that might be around. she stopped suddenly. ahead was a blob of green and red. it was the frog, surrounded by blood. she walked towards it. poor thing! i'm sorry. i didn't mean to hurt you, she said to the frog.

something shimmered. by the frog's head. she bent down to look. tears started to fall from her eyes. it mixed with the blood by her foot. she felt like dying then and there, as the thing continued to shimmer, mocking her...taunting her.

for there by the head of the frog, shimmering in the sunlight, was a small crown.

there was a little girl who lived on a lone house on top of a hill. no neighbors can be found within fifty feet of the house. she was an only child, and both of her parents work so they leave her on the care of a nanny who was never warm toward her.

the house was surrounded by huge trees and wild plants. and the girl always bathe in their shadows. she losses herself under the shade of a different tree everyday and relish in the warmth of the branches that she hugged. she was surrounded by beautiful colors and smells of the wild flowers and orchid that peppered the forest.

everyday is an adventure for her. she alwasy took a different path going through her own little forest. one day, she found a mound by the foot of what she thought was the biggest tree in the whole area. it's branches were so high and stretched so long she couldn't see where they ended.

something inside her told her to dig through the mound. so she did. she squealled with glee at what she found buried there. a small chest, the size of her two hands together, wrapped in a piece of cloth. it was a bit heavy.

she wiped some of the dirt away. underneath, she found a white shiny surface. she tapped it with a finger and winced. it was made of very hard white shiny stuff. she tried to shake the chest. and her face brightened a thousand lights. something rattled. something was inside.

she hurried back to the house. cutting through bushes. ignoring the sharp sting of the scratches she got from the low hanging branches and the weight of the chest on her hands. she tripped once. twice. but she did not stop.

when she reached the house, she went straight to her room, taking care not to see nanny on the way, she took the stairs two at a time. she locked herself in her room, took the chest to her bathroom and tried to clean and brush the dirt that still clung to the chest.

after a few frustrating moments, she managed to clean the chest. it was really pretty. it was indeed made of something white and shiny. it looked like the pictures of treasure chests in her story books. except that it was white. it also looked like the old jewelry chest that her mom keeps on the dressing table.

she turned the chest towards the window and it caught the fading rays of the setting sun. "pretty!" she exclaimed. she ran her fingers at the side of the chest and marveled at how smooth it was. even the golden black metal that supported the chest was smooth and cool to the touch. looking closely, she saw that the white was not pure. gray lines criss-crossed at its surface with specks of brown and orange.

she shook the chest again. and again she heard a faint rattling noise. her mind drifted to pictures of treasure. of a gold ring or coin. could it be a white shiny pearl or a key to bigger treasures? "what gem could be inside the chest?" she asked.

she tried to open the box. but it was rusted shut. she tried to pry it open with her little hands. but still, she couldn't open the chest. frustrated she turned the chest around and found a tiny hole for a tiny key. but she doesn't have the key.

she felt like crying. she wanted to open the chest so bad, too excited to find out what's inside. in a desperate attempt to get to her treasure, she threw the chest out of her second story window.

it smashed upon impact on the gravelled path. she went down the stairs as fast as she can. she could hear nanny calling her from somewhere, a sure scolding will come next. but she didn't care. she went outside, straight to the side of the house to where the chest landed.

she found pieces of white stone on the ground, amid strips of the golden black metal and reddish cloth. careful not to cut herself, she turned some of the pieces over, looking for her treasure.

and she did find it.

a loud wail rang through out the grounds. her nanny hurried to her and asked her what happened. she couldn't answer, nor stop crying. she just pointed at the small round black thing surrounded by bits of white stone, strips of gold-black metal and red cloth.

her treasure was a rusted button.

once upon a time, in a kingdom far-far away, there lived a girl named Cinderella. her father died when she was still very young and she was left in the care of her stepmother and two stepsisters who turned out to be very evil. they turned Cinderella into a maid.

one day, they received an invitation to a masquerade ball in in the palace. everyone was invited to make an appearance but Cinderella wasn't allowed to go. but she snuck-in in her mother's old gown and a plain white mask.

she had no idea what to expect and was very shocked when a young man immediately asked her to dance. they danced the night away and Cinderella was falling in love with every passing minute. but then the clock struck midnight, and she had to hurry home because her stepmother and stepsisters will come home at that time. in her haste, she forgot her slipper.

the next day, there was a commotion in the land. the Prince apparently found a bride during the ball. and the lucky girl was the owner of the slipper. when he arrived at their house Cinderella was in a panic. she had no idea that the man she danced with was the Prince. and when he approached her with the slipper, Cinderella almost fainted. and of course the slipper fitted perfectly.

and so the day came for the wedding of the Prince and Cinderella. she was so excited. she finally found someone who loves her. she finally found her happiness.

but in the middle of the ceremony, a man started shouting for the wedding to stop. it turns out that the Prince was an impostor. he was a Pauper, pretending to be the Prince while the real Prince (the man who stopped the wedding) went frolicking around the country side.

Cinderella was so crushed. but she thought at least she still has love. but the Pauper was bitter. he got used to being royalty and refused to work even when the real Prince eventually forgave him and even gave him land as a gift for all his help. instead of cultivating the land, he drove himself deep into an alcohol induced oblivion. so deep that even Cinderella's love is not enough to get him out.

so Cinderella was back to where she was before. working her ass off. wishing for someone, anyone to love her.